Mike Ashmore: How I fell in love with the NHL Stadium Series

Before I even set foot into the press box at Yankee Stadium for the Stadium Series game between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, I decided that I was going to write a long-winded rant about how outdoor games are all about the event itself and the game is secondary. How dare the National Hockey League so devalue their own product as to sacrifice the quality of the sacred game so many of us love just for some publicity or ratings?

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If it sounds like it would have been uptight and pretentious, well…you’re not wrong. It would have been full of snark, fueled largely by what I’d seen on TV at the Winter Classic and in part from a lousy experience covering the poorly-organized “Whale Bowl” in Hartford a few years ago, which would have soured anyone on life itself, no less the thought of hockey being played outdoors.

And then I sat down. I took in the atmosphere. I saw a sea of Devils red and Rangers blue spread throughout 50,000 seats at a stadium, with kids skating on a smaller rink and pre-game excitement – that was still somewhat dulled by a delay due to the glare of the sun affecting the ice – that rivaled what I’ve experienced covering the Stanley Cup Finals.

As my brain slowly started to freeze thanks to the frigid conditions, my mind suddenly opened. And all of a sudden, I didn’t hate it anymore.

I do stand by my initial assertions; that the game is secondary, that this is a largely made-for-TV event that, at times, make you question whether two points should be on the line. But the NHL knows what they’re doing.

They really make you question that at times, but it’s true. A Rangers-Devils game that, while perhaps big news to those in the area but wouldn’t have made even a blip on the national radar, now becomes an event discussed around the country and featured way higher in highlight shows than it ordinarily would have been. It’s more show than sporting event, more ratings-grab than showcase for the game’s top talents, who are inevitably handicapped by difficult sightlines and ice conditions that range from “acceptable” to “the worst I’ve ever played on” if you ask Martin Brodeur.

But perhaps it’s worth it. Perhaps, for the greater good and to truly grow the game, it is. The NHL will always have the clips of KISS playing in front of a packed house at Dodger Stadium on Saturday and snow falling with Yankee Stadium as a backdrop on Sunday. The fans will always have the memories of giving a standing ovation to Vin Scully and Bob Miller and doing…well, whatever they did after performances by the Jersey Boys and Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.

Six outdoor games is surely too many, and the NHL has already publicly stated that they won’t have as many next season. But, for better or worse, they’re all still worth two points. And any team that points to those two points as to why they didn’t make the playoffs? They probably didn’t deserve to make it anyway.

It’s easy to be too close to the forest to see the trees, but in the long run, giving the game a larger audience – whether it be by a concept some see as gimmicky and already overdone or not – can only benefit anyone involved with it in the future.

You could almost see commissioner Gary Bettman glowing in the statement he issued after Sunday’s contest.

“The first two games of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series – played on two coasts, under two wild extremes of climate – provided all the best elements our sport can offer our fans.

“Within 16 hours, two of the most-revered venues in sports welcomed more than 100,000 fans to sit under the sky and enjoy two of the fiercest rivalries in the National Hockey League. The games were spectacular, the images were unforgettable and the sheer energy our sport creates was unmistakable. This truly was a remarkable weekend for our fans and our League.”